Idaho Gives to support area nonprofits

· April 26, 2018

By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff

Christmas is right around the corner for Idaho nonprofits.

Photo by Idaho Youth Ranch.

On Thursday, May 3, charitable organizations from around the state are banding together to ensure there’s no better day of the year to donate. Idaho Gives is the perfect chance to help a favorite nonprofit while maximizing your donation by giving them the chance to earn additional rewards beyond the basic financial support.

If you’re planning on supporting a nonprofit this year, Idaho Gives is the perfect day to pull out that credit card. For every donation made online at www.idahogives.org, participating nonprofits earn additional cash. Plenty of local nonprofits are getting in on the action, and there are some big goals in place for the day. For example, Bonner Homeless Transitions is hoping to extend the housing it uses to help individuals and families get a roof over their heads and back on their feet.

“We are hoping to raise $100,000 to buy the house next to Blue Haven in order to expand our program,” said Ann Gehring, vice president of Bonner Homeless Transitions.

Likewise, Community Cancer Services is planning to be out all day with other nonprofits encouraging residents to donate. Organization representatives for it and many other worthy charities will be at Evans Brothers from 8-10 a.m. and Idaho Pour Authority from 4-8 p.m. to discuss their work in the community.

“These events will be an opportunity for individuals to meet people from local nonprofits and/or pick up some literature about them so donors can make more informed choices about where they direct their dollars,” said Cindy Marx, program manager at Community Cancer Services. “There will also be some prizes and give-away items as well as awesome coffee or beer depending on which venue you visit.”

It’s simple to see if your favorite nonprofit is participating in Idaho Gives. Simply visit www.idahogives.org and use the search bar at the top of the page to look it up.

One of the best reasons to donate during Idaho Gives are the prizes that are awarded regularly throughout the day. For example, the organization that receives the first donation after 12 a.m. MST will receive a $1,000 prize. A random organization from one of Idaho’s five regions will be drawn every other hour between 8 a.m.-10 p.m. MST for $500. And golden tickets will be drawn every other hour between 9 a.m.-11 p.m., awarding $1,000 to a random organization that received donations in the hour prior to the drawing. Visit www.idahogives.org to see a full list of prizes.

Idaho Gives started in 2013 by the Idaho Nonprofit Center, raising $578,735 throughout the day. Since then, Idaho Gives steadily topped itself year after year, culminating in record-setting 2017 when 10,570 individuals raised $1,379,406 for 628 nonprofits. According to Marx, Bonner County organizations raised $13,000 last year and hope to do better this year.

While we have you ...

... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.

Pick up this week's Reader for the lowdown on Winter Carnival Week 2 — including the Weird & Wonderful Pub Crawl and K9 Keg Pull — as well as news, opinion, Emily Articulated, an interview with new downtown shop Wolf & Bell and so much more.

Grab a print copy around town or look under "Reader in Print" on sandpointreader.com to find the digital copy.

Dubbed “The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects,” Michael Winslow has appeared in such comedy classics as “Spaceballs,” “Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie" and of course, as “Motormouth Jones” in the “Police Academy” films. Aside from acting, he is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of beatboxing.

He’ll be showcasing his unique brand of comedy at the 219 Lounge for two days on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23.

Read an interview between Winslow and our publisher Ben — an interview Ben described as his "favorite" of all time — at sandpointreader.com. ... See MoreSee Less

Community Calendars

Community Calendars

This week in Sandpoint: Our town’s biggest party of the season kicks off Friday with the Sandpoint Winter Carnival‘s sweet Parade of Lights through downtown. And that just gets things started. See all events on this week, Feb. 11-17:

Sandpoint in Pictures

Sandpoint in Pictures

November’s Sandpoint in Pictures winner. There is a touching sentiment behind this photo, which captured November’s photo contest prize. And a new contest is in full swing for December, too. Submit a photo, see local pics, and vote at SandpointPictures.com»

Sports and Outdoors

Meet the Reader

Ever wonder who makes the Reader happen? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look pieced together by summer 2017 intern McCalee Cain in which Ben, Cameron and Lyndsie explain what exactly about the Reader keeps them coming back to their shabby (but well–loved) office each week.

Close [x]

Want to support independent local journalism?

The Sandpoint Reader is our town's local, independent weekly newspaper. "Independent" means that the Reader is locally owned, in a partnership between Publisher Ben Olson and Keokee Co. Publishing, the media company owned by Chris Bessler that also publishes Sandpoint Magazine and Sandpoint Online. Sandpoint Reader LLC is a completely independent business unit; no big newspaper group or corporate conglomerate or billionaire owner dictates our editorial policy. And we want the news, opinion and lifestyle stories we report to be freely available to all interested readers - so unlike many other newspapers and media websites, we have NO PAYWALL on our website. The Reader relies wholly on the support of our valued advertisers, as well as readers who voluntarily contribute. Want to ensure that local, independent journalism survives in our town? You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.